Snap lock pliers with unlocking lever



2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed July 28, 1948 FIG. 2

ATTX

May 27, 1952 J. SMITH ET AL 2,598,650

SNAP LOCK PLIERS WITH UNLOCKING LEVER Filed July 28,-1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET2 INVENTORS JUST/IV 1., SMITH LE/F H. ER/KSEN BY ATTX Patented May 27,1952 SNAP LOGK PLI-ERS WITH UfiLOQKINGY LEVER v Justinii. Smith,Watertown,]-Gonn.,- and'Leif II. Eriksen, Oslo, Norway, assignor's. toSeymour Smith Son, fInc'., akville, 00:111., a corpora-.tioriof-Gonnecticiit Application Jul 28, 1948*, .sie'rjiaino. 41.064

Thisinvention relatesto tools of the plierwrench W1 arid more particuarly to pliers hav-- ing an adjustable handle which may be operated by atoggle action to -look theplier jaws; I

one dbjectof this invention is to provide a device-of theabovenatuiewhich includesalever for manually releasing the movable handle from itslocked p sition.

Another object isgto provide a device of the abovenature which includesindicating means for --pei"-m-itti-iig the jaws be readily adjusted toaiiydesii'ed size or opening;

further object is to provide a device of the above-naturawhich will besimple inconstrucnon, inexpensivetomanumeture; easy to 'n'ianipul'ate,compact; ornamental in appearance, and very efiicient and durable inuse.

With these and other objects in view, there hassbeen illustrated-on theaccompanying drawing one form in which-theinvehtion may eonvenientlly beembodied'in practice.

Inethe dra'wing,

' Fig. 1 is a side view of the improved pliers'as it would appearwhenlocked upon a work piece.

Fig-2 is a similar-side view of the same, with certaiiiparts -brokenawayto show the operating mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a side viewsimilar to Fig. 2, but showpliers -in unlockedposition.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view..of

lever. d r v Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view of the same, taken ohtheline 5-5 of Fig. 4; 1

'Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view taken on the Refer-ring' nowtothedrawings in whichdike reference numerals denote correspondingpartsthroughout-the several views, the numeral lllg inale-ates the improvedpliers'which comprises an elongated stationary handle I I which isU-Shaped in 'crosssection and has a fixed jaw I2 at-its Iront'end; andan L-shaped lever I3 which carries a movable-jaw 14 in opposed relationto the fi-xedj aw I 2-.-

The L-shaped lever I3 comprises a flat triangular leg I5 which isswingably mounted within the handle II rearwardly of the fixed jaw I2,by means of a pivot pin I6 having headedover ends, and a forked frontleg IT, to which the movable jaw I4 is secured by means of a swivel pinI8.

In order to operate the movable jaw I4, use is made of a movable handleI9 of U-shaped cross section which is connected to the rear corner ofthe L-shaped lever I3 by means of a pivot the. unlocking pin 20. Themovable handle I 9 is also connected with the stationary handle by meansof a toggle link 2 I; the front end of whieh isssecured within a centralportion of the movable-"handle I9, by means of a pivot pin 22.

The toggle link 2| has a rounded rear end 23 which is embraced bytherear portion of the stationary handle II and is adapted to bearagainst an adjustable; longitudinal screw bolt... whichis carried in atapped cylindricalreahend portion 2501? the handleII, and isprovidedwith aknurled outerknob 2 6.- 7 It will be noted-that whenthe pliersarelocked in clamping position (Fig. 2) the rear. end' fliof the togglelink 2| and the pivot pins 2Ilaxfig122 will be disposed in substantiallya straight line, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2; In order to preventexcessive inward movement of the; movable handle I.9 ;past thelockingposition; the toggle link -2I is providedwithajside lug; 2-1 whichisadapted to abut the innensunface of the handle I9, Thus,- whenthepliersare locked, the pivot pin :22 will occupy a position-at oralittle inwardly of dead center, and-it .w'. .Lbe necessaryto exert asubstantial outward} roe upon; the ,movable handle .-I 9 in order tolunlock the pliers. I w The toggle link 2| also is provided. ,-wi-t-h arounded taperedfront nose 28; which isadap ted in unlocked, positiontoabut the inner surface of the inner handle, I9 soasto limitoutwardmove-.

mentof the handleiseeFig. 3). V

The rearend 23 of the toggle link; 2| will normally be maintainedin-abutment withathe ad.- justing screw 24- by. means. of a-hook-endedcoiled spring 29, ,engaged, through apertures .30, 3-I in;-the handle IIand' the lever I3 respeotively,

soastourge the L-shaped lever I3 and thejaw to the, unlocked openposition. J V As, a provision formoving the handle-moutwardly beyond thedead point and-thus breakingthe toggle action of the-link--2.Iuse,is;made

of -curved unlocking lever 32. substantially T-shaped in outline,disposed within the rear portion of said handle I9. The unlocking lever32 is U-shaped in cross section, and is supported by means of a pair ofapertured side ears 33, 34 which extend from central portions of itsedges and are pivotally secured in recesses 34a in the rear end 23 ofthe toggle link 2I by means of a headed pivot pin 35. The unlockinglever 32 has a pointed nose 36 at its front end, which is adapted toengage the inner surface of the movable handle I9, and is provided atits rear end with a finger piece 3'! which projects rearwardly 1 V inmanipulation.

' in inches.

slightly. beyond a finger'piece 38 on the rear end of the movable handle[9, whereby it will be readily accessible to the operator forconvenience ,By-means of this construction it will be seen thattheadjustingscrew 24 may readily be turned so that the size of theopening between the .plier jaws l2 and I4 may be varied as desired. In

order to permit the operator to ascertain the size V v of this openingwhen the jaws are in their closed and locked position, use is made of agraduated scale 39 marked upon a central side edge portion of thestationary handle I] adjacentthe toggle link 2]. An index mark 40, isprovided at asuitable central location upon the toggle link 2|, so

is claimed as new and for which it is desired to that when the plierhandles H, l9 are in their wide open position, the index mark 40 and thescale 39 will give a correct indication of what the 7 size ofthe jawopening will be when the handles are closed in any stage of adjustmentof the screw 24.. V V, g r

The scale 39 is providedwith a row of numbers to indicate the size ofthe jaw opening in some uniform standard of measurement, herein shownOperation.

' In"u'se,,theoperator will first adjust the plier jaws l2, to providean opening suitablefor clamping the work piece W. This will be done byfirst moving the plier handles H, '19 to their,

wide open position, andthen rotating the adjusting screw 24 :by means ofthe knob 26. in the proper direction to'bringthe index mark 40 oppositethe propergraduated marking 39 on the handlell =-Thejaws I2, I4 willthen be placed over the workpieceW after which the' handles H, l9 willbe swungtog'ether into the position shown in Figs. l and 2, whereuponthe-work pieceW will'be firmly gripped. In this position, the pivot pin'22 willbe located in a line between the rear end- 23 v of the togglelink 2! and thelpivot pin 20, or slightly inwardly of such a line, asdetermined by the abutment of the'side lug 21 with the movable handle19, and considerable force would normally 7 7 be required to'swing'the"handle l9 outwardly in order tofbreakthe toggle action and release thework'pieceW.-

I 3y means .of the present invention, h weve this action maybe-acc'omplished by alightpresg sure upon the unlocking finger piece 31;whereby the nose 3 5 will engagethe movable handle 19 with a greaterforceand cause it-to move outwardlyfrom the position shown in Figs. 1and 2 to that shown in full lines in Fig. 3.

One advantage of the improved snap lockpliers herein'disclosed is thatit will enable theuser to work with greater ease and rapidity, since theunlockin ilever will avoidthe awkward move-- ments'which were formerlynecessary to unlock jaws inpliersoi this type.

Anotheradvantage is that theindicating scale on the handlewill:avoidthenece's sity of adjusting the pliers in successive steps bytrial-anderror methods. 7

While there has been disclosed in this specification one form in whichthe invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that this form isshown for the .purposeof illustrationonly, and that the invention is notto be limited to the specific disclosure, but may be modified andembodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit. Inshort, the invention includes 7 all the modifications and embodimentscoming. within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, wha

secure Letters Patent,is: V 1. In a snap-lock toggle-grip pliers, aworkclamping jaw carried rigidly on a. stationary plier handle ofU-shaped construction, a second workclamping jaw adjacent said firstjaw, an L-shaped lever embraced by said handle and pivotally connectedthereto and to said second jaw, a movable handle of U-shapedcross-section pivotally connectedat one end to said L-shaped lever; atoggle link embraced by both of said U-shaped handles and pivotallyconnected adjacent its forward end to said movable handle intermediate;the ends thereof.. said stationary ihandle having a longitudinaladjustable screw mounted at its rear and engaging the rear end of saidtoggle link, and a 1 30,

T-shaped unlocking lever embraced by said mov-,

able handle and having a perpendicular leg pivotally connected with therear end of said, toggle l nk, the rear end of said unlocking leverserving as a handle and the forward end of said unlocking lever having acurved pointed section enportion of said movgageable against the centrable handle. c

2. The invention as which said stationary handle is providedwithragraduated scale on the edge of its outer surface and said toggle linkhas an index mark adjacent said scale to indicate thedistance betweenthejaws when the pliers are in closed lockedp'osit1on.,

mm L; S-MITI-I;

LEIF H. ERIKSEN.

REFE EN CITED V vThe following references. are of record'in' the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS, f

Number Na Mead Sept. 26,1950

set forth in claim l,

